The Student Council has announced its intention to appoint a special committee whose duty it will be to study and report upon the instructional methods now used in Harvard College, more particularly the relation of the tutorial system to the existing requirements for graduation. Many years ago a comprehensive study of our educational methods was made by a committee of the Faculty, and out of its report came the present scheme of concentration and distribution, replacing the old elective system. Indirectly, also, the plan of general examinations and the tutorial system have grown out of this study. So the Faculty has done its share in reorganizing the curriculum during the past decade. Now let the undergraduates tell us what they think of the outcome and make some constructive suggestions for a further him improvement, as we hope they can.

At any rate, the Student Council is entitled to commendation for its initiative and interest in this matter. The whole question is one of timely importance and deserves all the thought that may be expended upon it from any quarter. The Bulletin is glad to observe that the Harvard undergraduate body of today, through its representative organization, is not confining its thought to the selection of cheer leaders of the choice of class colors. It is showing a laudable interest in things that any college would deem worth-while.

In the meantime, before the work begins, we venture a couple of suggestions. The committee, when it is constituted, ought to be representative of the undergraduate body as a whole. It should contain one or more members drawn from each grade of the rank list. Too many undergraduate committees are "bottom heavy" from this point of view. Here is particularly a case where high-standing scholars should have adequate representation. Otherwise the committee's recommendations, whatever they may be, will be somewhat discounted in advance. And rightly so, for nobody cares what the lame ducks think about educational requirements which they have failed to fulfill.

The committee, moreover, should have an eye to the practical difficulties which all radical departures from established traditions are sure to encounter. It should mix caution with courage. Nothing is easier than to outline an ideal scheme of college education based on the hypothesis that all teachers are supermen and that all students are paragons of industry. But unhappily on such Utopian conditions are in sight. What we want is something that will point the way to a better use of the human material at hand. Harvard Alumni Bulletin.